Reducing Carbon Emissions, Pertamina-Air Liquide Develop CCU Technology At Balikpapan Refinery

Illustration of Pertamina building. (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Pertamina and Air Liquide Indonesia are collaborating to develop carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technology at the Balikpapan Refinery Processing Unit.

This cooperation agreement was realized in the signing of a Joint Study Agreement (JSA) by Pertamina President Director Nicke Widyawati and PT Air Liquide Indonesia President Director Marloes Moerman in Paris, France, Tuesday, May 17 local time.

Nicke explained that within the framework of this JSA, Pertamina and Air Liquide will conduct a joint study on the application of CO2 Syngas and Flue Gas capture technology from Hydrogen production in the Balikpapan Refinery area.

"The CO2 emissions that have been captured will then be compressed and channeled to a potential CO2 storage area in the Kutai Basin, East Kalimantan as a solution for low-carbon hydrogen production or blue hydrogen," he explained in a statement to the media, Wednesday 18 May.

Nicke said that some of the CO2 will also be converted into value-added products, methanol, which can then be mixed with fuel oil for the production of low-carbon fuels.

Present on the same occasion, Deputy Minister of SOEs Pahala Nugraha Mansury said the government is committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and net zero emissions by 2060 as outlined in Presidential Regulation Number 98 of 2021.

The Presidential Regulation is translated into 48 derivative regulations and several regulations are being drafted such as national determined contribution (NDC) per sector, carbon economic value, and carbon tax.

"The Ministry of SOEs has committed to start decarbonization and is actively leading the decarbonization agenda with 3 pillars of initiative, reduce end-to-end emission, build adjacent businesses, and explore step-out opportunities," said Pahala.

According to Pahala, this initiative has an aggressive target of reducing around 85 million tons of CO2e/year or contributing 10 percent to NDC by 2030.

"The application of CCUS technology can increase oil and gas production while reducing greenhouse gas emissions significantly," added Pahala.

CCUS technology, continued Pahala, enables Pertamina's refineries to make available CO2 for either storage (CCS) or use (CCU) and integrates this sector into a circular economy.

Furthermore, Nicke said, the application of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology is one of the initiatives to reduce carbon emissions from Pertamina's refinery facilities as well as a solution to increase oil and gas production in the energy transition era.

"Currently the energy transition is a priority issue. Pertamina has played an important role in leading the transition of Indonesia's energy industry," he said.

Pertamina, said Nicke, is targeting a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing the renewable energy mix from 9.2 percent in 2019 to 17.7 percent in 2030.

At the same time, Indonesia holds the G20 Presidency by prioritizing the transition to sustainable energy as one of the main issues.

"We hope that the signing of the JSA between Pertamina and Air Liquide will have a positive impact on accelerating the implementation of low-carbon technology and providing Low Carbon Energy Resilience in Indonesia," added Nicke.

Through this collaboration, added Nicke, it is hoped that it will accelerate the application of green technology in providing low-carbon energy while maintaining global climate change.